The network of academic solidarity and engagement, the symbolic acronym MASA, was formed with the aim of strengthening the independence and critical potential of the academic community. This open network will gather all members of the academic community who are ready to engage in strengthening the voice of the profession and science by defending and consistently representing the basic principles and ethical standards of academic work.
MASA will provide support to members of the academic community who are threatened because of their scientific and artistic work, i.e. public engagement. In addition, MASA will try to further motivate the academic community to independently deal with its own problems and environmental challenges. An important part of the engagement will be directed towards external actors, primarily towards the Government and competent institutions; MASA will point out negative social phenomena and processes and advocate strong participation of the academic community in the formulation of public policies.
The initiative to form the Network was based on the assessment that the academic community, faced with the general collapse of institutions in Serbia, has not yet reacted in the right way, in solidarity and with a strong voice. The absence of a timely and adequate reaction by the University authorities in cases of plagiarized doctorates, which have shaken society for years, is conspicuous. The recent repeated attack on prominent members of the academic community, which comes from the rostrum of the highest representative body - the Assembly of Serbia, and the absence of an appropriate reaction from the academic community, is a good example of how academic institutions are structurally threatened, and its representatives unprotected.
In such conditions, mutual connection and academic solidarity increase the capacity for joint action and participation in proactively solving broader social problems, for which the voice of members of the academic community is necessary and irreplaceable. Placing science and education on a sound and strong foundation is a necessary prerequisite for the successful development of the state and society, and for this joint action and nurturing the credibility of the academic community is necessary.
Almost all the key values of scientific and academic work are threatened. The responsibility for this lies mostly with the state, which fails to provide the prerequisites for dedicated and responsible work. At the same time, academic institutions are under increasing pressure from those who are supposed to guarantee and protect their autonomy. Attempts to influence the research and personnel policy of academic institutions most directly threaten their independence and, in the long term, collapse the scientific community as a whole. The Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory and the Institute of National Importance in Vinča are the latest examples of institutions where personnel solutions are imposed non-transparently and against the will of the majority.
In order to strengthen the academic community and encourage its members, MASA was formed, which symbolically, but also through concrete actions, wants to show that the academic community can and should work in the interest of the entire society.
